Pondering yesterday...

  

      I have thought a lot about our Relief Society Lesson yesterday and how it applies to my life. I have always felt like it was easy for me to live the gospel everyday. Yes, I am not perfect nor have I ever professed to be perfect. But listening to the spirit and doing all the little things on a daily bases seems very simple to me. And yet, as I have spent the last twenty four hours seriously pondering how the simplicity works in my daily life, I have come to the realization that things are not as simple as they seem... I am very grateful for all the little opportunities that I have to love and share the gospel everyday. And yet I became very aware today of all the other simple things that I could be doing to draw a little closer to the Lord everyday. Yesterday, by the end of our lesson we had established that the easiest way to become converted and stay converted was to Keep the Commandments every day.  And for me, I live by three sets of rules that are heavily intertwined in my live....  The 10 Commandments, The 13 Articles of Faith and the 3 Principles in the Mission of the Church. 

        Then today, while reading and studying my scriptures, in chapter 47 of our gospel principles manual I found a list of ten things that we have been asked, by the Lord to do, in order to gain exaltation... It states: "In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of us to:

1. Love God and our neighbors.
   
2. Keep the commandments.
   
3. Repent of our wrongdoings.
   
4. Search out our kindred dead and receive the saving ordinances of the gospel for them.
   
5. Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible so we can renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament.
   
6. Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord.
   
7. Have family and individual prayers every day.
   
8. Teach the gospel to others by word and example.
   
9. Study the scriptures.
   
10. Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord.
    

Finally, each of us needs to receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow His direction in our individual lives."

So for me that just sort of sums the whole thing into a nut shell... If I strive everyday to do these things and act upon the promptings from the Lord. I stand a pretty good chance of staying converted everyday. AND THIS IS A GOOD THING!!!